A lot of people have experienced a RROD failure with their Xbox 360s, but has anyone experienced hard drive failure? The 20Gb drives included with day 1 launch models are now 5 years old, and eventually these hard disks will break down.

How likely is it that these drives will die, and are there any early warning signs or indicators? What can I do to protect my data against this possibility?

4 Answers
4

It is almost impossible to predict when a hard drive will go bad. I've had desktop hard drives that went bad after 9 months. I've also had some that are still working after 10 years (and I still have a Tandy even with a working hard drive!)

Sometimes when a hard drive begins to fail it will perform very poorly and/or exhibit the "click of death." When either of these things happen(especially the click) it is time to buy another one and stop using the hard drive until you are ready to back it up. Note, the few hard drives I've had that failed, failed suddenly without any slow downs. They just one day didn't work.

Other than that, to ensure a long hard drive life is not to bang it or other rough hard movements. Also, store it somewhere between 70-100 degrees Fahrenheit and run it in such a temperature range. Also, make sure it isn't in an overly dusty environment.

Why do you think other parts are more likely to fail first? A 5-year-old drive can certainly be suspect, especially if it's used a lot.
–
Anna Lear♦Apr 4 '11 at 17:16

You must be new to this whole Xbox 360 thing. Look up the RRoD.
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migoApr 4 '11 at 23:55

@migo I know what it is. I had one happen. It's not necessarily more likely than a harddrive failure, especially if it hasn't happened yet in 5 years. And if the OP is talking about a newer 360 with an older drive, the odds of an RROD go down even further.
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Anna Lear♦Apr 5 '11 at 0:06

Unless there are early signs (which are harder to see with a 360 vs. a desktop or laptop), the only real option is preemptive replacement. I haven't experienced this yet, as my 360 is only a year and a half old, but I suspect that many who would have have already upgraded their drives because of space issues.